By Bob Deakin
I drove from Florida to Connecticut by myself the other day.
At least I thought I was by myself. Turns out I had company. This little guy, who looks like the one in the photos, came along for the ride. I saw him on the wall outside, next to my car, before I left. He jumped right in front of me as I was loading a suitcase but I was careful to shut the door so he wouldn’t get in as it would have taken some time to get him out, as it was still dark.
I thought he jumped under the car as I closed the door but I guess he made it inside. Ten states, 1,200 miles, an overnight stay in a Virginia hotel, no food or water and lots of podcasts later, he managed to endure the trip.
The good news is he or she (let’s assume it’s a boy) looks just as good as when we left. He seems young and I fear he misses his mother. The bad news is he’s not going to see her again. I’m going to be here for a little bit and planning to drive back alone. He escaped when I discovered him Thursday night and seemed to enjoy hopping around on this nice warm September evening in Connecticut.
He vanished into the woods when I opened the door and there was no way I could have found him. Compounding the issue was the fact that I didn’t care. I reasoned it’s nice here in Connecticut and other than high taxes and cost of housing, he’ll probably do well, at least for a couple weeks.
At less than an inch long, he's not an easy catch but that's not to say he's not a good catch. He seems attractive for a frog and I'm sure he's got stuff going on.
He may be a ladies' frog but I'm pretty sure he's a Florida tree frog, so I ask myself the inevitable question: How’s he going to handle it when it gets cold, which is likely to happen soon? Not well, I’m thinking, but I looked up different types of frogs and it turns out several species adapt to survive in freezing weather by hibernating. Maybe he's one of them.
What if he can’t? Then I guess he’ll have to find another car to jump in that’s heading south. I apologize if I don’t sound sympathetic to his situation but it’s beyond my control. I suppose I could have tried a little harder to catch him when I discovered he was in the car Thursday night but his sudden jump momentarily distracted me, and he deliberately hopped away. He made a conscious decision to evade and strike out on his own.
I feel bad about his potential failure to adapt to the cold but he’s got a few weeks before it will freeze. I’m praying for his safety and I’ll make it a point to look out for him in the neighborhood later today, maybe tomorrow. It’s an unfortunate situation but not my fault. I’ve got a writing project to get to.
Did I invite him along for the ride? Is no one accountable anymore?
Florida encompasses more than 65,000 prime square miles for a tree frog and he decides to jump into my 40 square-foot car while I'm distracted. Whose fault is that?
Welcome to Connecticut buddy!